ADPTR Utopia: what makes this spectral reverb one of the best effects of 2025

Move over, recycled ideas and emulations: it’s been a year of reimagining entire effects categories. And ADPTR Audio’s Utopia stands out in a 2025 class of reverbs that are more than just reverbs. Here’s a look at why it’s an effect I can’t put down, why it’s so much fun to tweak, and how the developers thought about it.

The best music making software and plug-in deals right now

Sale-itis has made the full year a maddening deluge of discounts. (You know who you are, inbox plagues!) But here are some legitimately excellent deals on music software available now.

Peter Kirn - December 1, 2025

Super Massive 5 adds Sirius echo/reverb to the best free plugin in the galaxy

Valhalla isn’t done with reverb/echo blockbusters to reverberate through the end of 2025. The free plug-in — so good we really would pay for it — is back, and now it’s gotten Sirius. Welcome Super Massive 5.0.0.

Peter Kirn - November 28, 2025

Sinevibes Cache has turned into a buffer-mangling, playable breaks machine

Peter Kirn - November 25, 2025

Motherly, sequencer percussion synth, is pure rhythmic happiness

Peter Kirn - November 21, 2025

Hainbach and AudioThing made the HP Word Generator into sonic software

Peter Kirn - November 18, 2025

Valhalla’s all-new reverb, 8 years in development, goes clean and natural

Peter Kirn - November 13, 2025

Cubase 15: Expression Maps, rich patterns, updated Modulators, plug-ins

Peter Kirn - November 5, 2025

Get a free spoooooky spectrum analyzer plug-in from PSP

Peter Kirn - October 31, 2025

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